Fast Talk podcast, ep. 42: The power training revolution, with Hunter Allen

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The VeloNews Fast Talk podcast is your source for the best advice and most interesting insight on what it takes to become a better cyclist. Listen in as VeloNews managing editor Chris Case and our resident physiologist and coach, Trevor Connor, discuss a range of topics, including training, physiology, technology, nutrition, and more.

This episode is all about power. First, we’ll touch upon the history of power, and how it has fundamentally changed the sport of cycling and, more importantly, how we train. When did the use of power meters and power analysis first appear? Which athletes were the first to use them? And how did the pioneers of power revolutionize training methods over time to create the many sophisticated metrics we take for granted, like TSS, FTP, and performance management charts?

We are lucky to have as our main guest someone who has been at the center of training with power since its inception: Hunter Allen, a veteran coach who, along with Dr. Andrew Coggan, wrote the original book on training with power in 2006: “Training and Racing with a Power Meter.” That book has now been translated into 20 different languages and has recently started selling throughout Asia.

First, you’ll learn about the sports science conference in 2000 where the first seminar on training with power was given. This is when all the big names in power first got together, including Allen, Dr. Coggan, Dean Golich, Dr. Allen Lim, and Kevin Williams. It is the origin story, per se, of power and training.

Next, we’ll discuss how this group pulled together their expertise to develop ways of analyzing power and the original power-based training software. From there, we’ll move on to the pros and cons of training with power versus heart rate. Finally, we’ll touch upon where the next revolutions in training may happen.

In this episode, we’ll also hear from Dean Golich, a head coach at Carmichael Training Systems who has worked for years with world champion and WorldTour-caliber cyclists. For his master’s thesis, he conducted some of the original research using power meters outside of the lab.

Fast Talk is available on all your favorite podcast services, including iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and Soundcloud. If you enjoy the podcast, please take a moment to rate and comment on iTunes after listening. Also, check out the VeloNews Cycling Podcast, our weekly discussion of the sport’s hottest topics, trends, and controversies.

References

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Halson, S. L. (2014). Monitoring training load to understand fatigue in athletes. Sports Med, 44 Suppl 2, S139-147.

Jobson, S. A., Passfield, L., Atkinson, G., Barton, G., & Scarf, P. (2009). The analysis and utilization of cycling training data. Sports Med, 39(10), 833-844.

Wallace, L. K., Slattery, K. M., & Coutts, A. J. (2014). A comparison of methods for quantifying training load: relationships between modeled and actual training responses. Eur J Appl Physiol, 114(1), 11-20.

Wallace, L. K., Slattery, K. M., Impellizzeri, F. M., & Coutts, A. J. (2014). Establishing the criterion validity and reliability of common methods for quantifying training load. J Strength Cond Res, 28(8), 2330-2337.